Monday, September 17, 2012

Musical ideals are insensitive

'Can you imagine not having any personality? Just nothing really - it sounds like you're almost dead! Every personal opinion, every personal feeling, we would need to reject. But that's not it. It's not an annihilation of self. It's seeing that the self we tend to cling to is our own creation. We create ourselves. And so with awareness we're beginning to see that. We're beginning to notice how I create myself as a person. Just out of habit, out of not awakening, out of being caught up in thinking habit, emotional habits, and identities that I never notice yet alone question'.

Recently I have been spending time with Wagner as interpreted by Sir Adrian Boult and Glenn Gould, and also - readers cannot have failed to notice - with Ajahn Sumedho's teachings. Sir Adrian's approach to Wagner, as captured in the invaluable EMI reissue of his orchestral excerpts, is what Thai Buddhists term anattā - devoid of self. Glenn Gould's transcriptions of the same music for piano are the total opposite and replete with personal opinions and personal feelings. Ajahn Sumedho teaches that we should practice anattā, or not-self. But in a Koan-like conundrum, rejecting Gould's subjective interpretation in favour of Boult's objectivity is itself a personal opinion. Which means musically both approaches are equally valid and indispensable - Boult's Wagner is fresh and clear like the wind-cleansed skies here in western France, while Gould's is a luxuriant soak in the sun-warmed sea.

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